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Rod Building


wazatherfisherman

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Hi Raiders this is just a general question- I was wondering how many of us still build their own rods, or have built them over the years? 

I realise that as tackle refinements have changed dramatically over the years, there are now far more options when thinking of a new rod or 'specialised' rod that is pretty much tailored to specific situations, so the need to build something (that you just couldn't buy off the shelf) has diminished greatly.

Just interested to hear.

 

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Waza. Been there done that, have built a number of rods over the years both for myself and for other fisho's. I still have 1/2 dozen or so blanks down the shed waiting for some attention, which sadly will probable never happen.

Frank

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5 minutes ago, frankS said:

Waza. Been there done that, have built a number of rods over the years both for myself and for other fisho's. I still have 1/2 dozen or so blanks down the shed waiting for some attention, which sadly will probable never happen.

Frank

Hi Frank I've still got about 8 or 10 blanks and about the same with butts and winches on but guides not done yet, won't be doing mine for a while either. Only built (fully) a few in last couple of years.

Just posted the question out of interest to see how many still build. With so many more 'specialised' rods available and the cost of home rod building verses off the shelf buying getting closer price wise, I can see why it's a dying interest.

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As a fussy fisherman who’s very particular about my rods, I would LOVE to get into rod building.

Unfortunately spare time and space are both limiting factors for me, so I’ve gone and had Tony Davis from Fishfinder build me a beautiful custom rod based on recommendations on this forum.

i just hope blokes like Tony keep up the craft for the sake of people like me, and if you’re thinking of getting into it or continuing it then I’m all for it!

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I have built a few rods in the past as what i wanted costed an arm and a leg (eg. samurai or battler)

Havnt built one recently, pretty much repair rods for friends and family.

Have been eyeing a few cheap builds for the kids. Only for the coloured blanks!

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1 hour ago, lastworm said:

As a fussy fisherman who’s very particular about my rods, I would LOVE to get into rod building.

Unfortunately spare time and space are both limiting factors for me, so I’ve gone and had Tony Davis from Fishfinder build me a beautiful custom rod based on recommendations on this forum.

i just hope blokes like Tony keep up the craft for the sake of people like me, and if you’re thinking of getting into it or continuing it then I’m all for it!

One of my first rods was built by Tony!

send my regards please.

Here is the post I made back in 2007 (oh my) The Bass Battler mrsswordfisherman special. 

BB8A7DDB-D912-4D10-A259-C8C7DF65285C.jpeg

 

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53 minutes ago, xerotao said:

I have built a few rods in the past as what i wanted costed an arm and a leg (eg. samurai or battler)

Havnt built one recently, pretty much repair rods for friends and family.

Have been eyeing a few cheap builds for the kids. Only for the coloured blanks!

Cool, the coloured blanks make for interesting builds, I had to build one for a mates 50th last year and I asked him what his favourite colours were (he had no idea it was about a rod). He is red/green colour blind and said definitely purple. Had to get a few all purple blanks from the giant U.S components company. A skull and cross-bones rod sticker on it instead of thread art and "air wave" guides make it one of a kind.

Also bought a lime green and an orange blank(to "justify" postage costs) All MHX brand blanks

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Hi Waza. I used to build and repair rods for my local tackle shop, probably built around 500 rods over the years I reckon. Most were landbased game and rock spin rods. These days there's so many good rods you can buy off the rack, its hard to compete and often I can't buy the parts for the same price rods are sold in the store.

I still have my Butterworth and Ironglass rods I rolled myself, along with all the rod building gear. My eyes aren't as good as they used to be and I have difficulty binding to a high standard, so these days I prefer to buy rather than make my own.

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Like Green Hornet above, I made some rods working in a tackle shop whilst I was at uni.

I have made and repaired quite a few in the 50 years since then and made nearly all my own rods. Like GH said above, it's sometimes cheaper to buy a rod off the rack but I still use the techniques I learned to restore and repair my gear and that of my mates.

It's a good skill to have as repairing rods is expensive and time consuming. I find lots of damaged and discarded rods at the beach/lake or on council throw out days. I grab them to get spare runners etc so that I have a stockpile of parts at home so repairs can be done immediately.

KB

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9 hours ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

One of my first rods was built by Tony!

send my regards please.

Here is the post I made back in 2007 (oh my) The Bass Battler mrsswordfisherman special. 

BB8A7DDB-D912-4D10-A259-C8C7DF65285C.jpeg

 

Yep, he definitely knows what he’s doing. 
Here’s mine, built on a Northfork Composites blank...

 

1C949B6F-CDE0-428A-A70A-7D4E7D4C85BC.jpeg

4A171133-D6D8-493C-9E0A-5C5E106FFD3A.jpeg

697EE40B-F976-4BDF-B333-EEC0EEE1C16B.jpeg

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I have built hundreds of rods (used to build them for a shop) these days it's not financially viable, but, it's just something satisfying to build your own rod and fish with it, I still have lots of my own home built rods that are decades old. Quality components are very expensive these days, and shops that have blanks in stock are getting scarce. There is a few "tricks" to it, if someone could tech you the basics in person, that helps, you also need space, good light and patience, you can make your own rod turning stand for next to nothing, and gather bits and pieces over time, it's fun, rewarding and interesting, but, you won't save money.

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The most unusual request I had when I used to build rods was a mate a few years ago asked me to build him a SPIRAL wrap rod. A few celebrities back a few years ago had these rods and made a big deal out of them.

Well I made the spiral wrap rod for the mate, he used it for a while but the novelty soon died out and he asked me could I rebuild it into a conventional rod, it wasn't worth the time and effort so I just built him another rod. Think he still has the spiral wrap in his collection but doesn't use it.

Frank 

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Lots of fads came and went, just like today, some "celebrity" on a fishing show says how fabulous something is, and makes it appear it's near impossible to catch fish without it, some stay, most just fizzle out and the next must have appears.

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Couldn’t agree more noelm.
My brief for the rod above was “I want a traditional style baitcaster, no split grip, cork handles, nice and light, no fancy colors” 

Basically something that used to be the norm, but for some reason I couldn’t buy off the shelf anymore.

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